1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toilet assembly having a combined automatic ventilation and flushing system and more particularly, a toilet assembly including a returnable solenoid member, a trap way, a trap way valve member, a multifunctional tube member, and a motion sensor whereby while the user sits on a seat ring, any objectionable odor is ventilated and when the user stands up, the toilet assembly is automatically flushed.
2. Description of Related Art
Various types of non-siphon type ventilating toilets are generally known in the art to be utilized with a fan for ventilating contaminated air through a separate exhaust duct. Several types of non-siphon type ventilating toilets are known in the art as a European type toilet to be utilized with a gas exhaust conduit disposed adjacent to a toilet stool and connected to a sewer discharge line and a fan/motor connected to an on/off switch of a light of the toilet.
However, these toilets suffer from a number of problems such as, for example, (1) the waste product and associated objectionable odor does not clearly discharge directly to the sewer discharge line since the ventilating conduit is directly connected to the sewer discharge line, (2) these conventional toilets are very complicated in structure, expensive to manufacture, and difficult to use, (3) since the flush water can flow into the ventilating conduit, the amount of water and the water pressure of the flush water are minimized so that these toilets cannot effectively achieve the flushing purpose thereof, and (4) since such toilets are utilized with relay type or an on/off switch for activation of the fan, this switch may be out of order frequently. Furthermore, such toilets may not employ the use of a water overflowing system and even if the system were used, it may be very complicated in structure and inefficient in use.
Such toilets are described in Baither, U.S. Pat. No. 2,227,920; Baither, U.S. Pat. No. 2,297,935; Sanford, U.S. Pat. No. 2,329,221; Fitzgerald, U.S. Pat. No. 2,443,705; Wilson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,575,778; Fitzgerald, U.S. Pat. No. 2,817,099; Shay, U.S. Pat. No. 2,847,682; Taggart, U.S. Pat. No. 3,495,282; Ikehata, U.S. Pat. No. 3,805,304; Baker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,129; Beeghly et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,406; Williams et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,192; Sanstrom, U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,361; Drummond, U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,255; and Higgins, U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,664.
In order to avoid these problems, U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,222, issued to the present inventor, discloses a toilet assembly which includes a toilet stool having a ventilation conduit disposed adjacent to the back wall portion of the toilet stool wherein the ventilation conduit extends angularly around a siphon conduit at the point where they communicate with a sewer discharge line, a fan member disposed in the lower portion of the ventilation conduit, a toilet water holding tank having a motion sensor disposed on the front exterior thereof and free of interference from the opening and closing of a toilet seat cover, a multifunctional tube having a U-shaped configuration and disposed in the toilet holding tank, and a movable ball valve disposed to move in the multifunctional tube for allowing exhaust gas to flow from a flush ring to the ventilation conduit or flush water to flow from the toilet holding tank to the toilet bowl, whereby upon opening the toilet seat cover, while the user sits on the seat ring, the motion sensor actuates the fan member allowing the objectionable odor to be ventilated, and in turn when the user stands up and flushes the toilet assembly, the motion sensor deactivates and simultaneously the flush water discharges the waste products and associated objectionable odor directly to the sewer discharge line.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,782 issued to the present inventor, discloses a toilet assembly which includes a toilet stool having ventilation conduit disposed adjacent to the back wall portion of the toilet stool and a gas exhaust duct connected to the ventilation conduit and having a raised portion disposed at the interior surface thereof for allowing exhaust gas to flow from a flush ring to the ventilation conduit, said raised portion being provided with a water exiting tube for preventing the flush water from the water exiting tube from flowing into the ventilation conduit, whereby the flush water discharges the waste products and associated objectionable odor directly to the sewer discharge line.
A further U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,131 issued to the present inventor, discloses a toilet assembly which includes a toilet stool having a ventilation conduit disposed adjacent to the back wall portion of the toilet stool and a U-shaped exhaust duct disposed in the toilet holding tank and connected to the ventilation conduit for allowing exhaust gas to flow from a flush ring to the ventilation conduit, whereby the flush water discharges the waste product and associated objectionable odor directly to the sewer discharge line.
Still another U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,039 issued to the present inventor, discloses a non-siphon type ventilating toilet assembly which includes a U-shaped ventilation tube disposed in the toilet holding tank for ventilating objectionable odor from the toilet bowl. The ventilation tube contains a cap valve which moves upwardly and downwardly along an outer-screwing shaft of an upper motor and a fan of a side motor. Both motors are connected to a motion sensor, whereby upon opening the toilet seat cover having a sensor aperture and sitting by the user on the seat ring, the motion sensor actuates, allowing both motors to be operated and simultaneously open the cap valve so that the objectionable odor is ventilated. In turn when the user stands up and flushes the toilet assembly, the motion sensor deactivates, allowing both motors to be stopped and simultaneously closing the cap valve and the flush water discharges the waste products to the sewer discharge line.
However, these toilet assemblies do not achieve a perfect discharge of the objectionable odor and are somewhat complicated in construction. In addition, these toilet assemblies do not disclose or suggest the use of an automatic flushing system with an automatic ventilation system.